Kansas leaders hail NBAF contract

Cattle graze in the site designated for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University in Manhattan. The proposed facility north of campus is close to Bill Snyder Family Stadium (background).

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Gov. Sam Brownback and the state’s Republican congressional delegation hailed Friday’s formal announcement of the awarding of a $40 million contract to build a central utilities plant at the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan.

The contract for a utilities plant, first reported Tuesday on CJOnline, is regarded as the next step in the process of building the NBAF facility north of the Kansas State University campus.

The Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency responsible for releasing the project funding, said construction on the 87,000-square-foot plant that will power NBAF operations is expected to be completed in about 2 1/2 years.

The $40 million funding comes from a fiscal year 2011 appropriation. Bids for the utility work were to expire at the end of February, noted Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Had Homeland Security not awarded the contract this month, it would have spent additional time and money to collect new bids.

“I’m glad to see that the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary (Janet) Napolitano have awarded the $40 million utility work contract for the NBAF,” Moran said in a statement. “The contract being confirmed is good news for Kansas. Without the capabilities NBAF provides, our country is at risk from foreign animal disease threats.”

The $1 billion livestock research facility would replace the government’s current labs in Plum Island, N.Y. That facility was built in the 1950s and has been deemed inadequate for very high-level research on animal diseases that can be transmitted to humans.

NBAF researchers would study animal-related diseases — including foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, African swine fever, Nipah virus, Japanese Encephalitis, Rift Valley fever and contagious bovine pleuropneuomonia — and develop vaccines and treatments. The facility would be run jointly by Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“In signing the contracts to proceed with construction of the NBAF’s central utility plant, DHS is confirming their commitment to moving forward with construction of the laboratory facility itself,” Brownback said in a statement. “We applaud this big step forward, and the state stands ready to continue in its partnership to seeing this project through to completion.”

The state has committed $105 million of matching funds for the facility and $35 million of research funding.

“This was the next step we have all been waiting for and moves us further down the construction timeline,” said Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts. “We will continue to work together to monitor each step in the process to ensure NBAF remains a top national security priority.”

Second District Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, who until 2012 represented the Manhattan area, called federal spending on the project a “fundamental responsibility of the federal government to protect its citizens.”

“The contract approval by DHS is further evidence that even while our nation looks for significant budget savings, we can still find funds for mission critical projects, such as those to be undertaken at the NBAF,” Jenkins said in a statement.

First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp, whose district now includes Manhattan, called the utilities plant contract “a significant and decisive step toward construction of the facility, and the administration’s commitment to the project.”

“NBAF will be able to deliver much needed, long overdue research vital to the security of America’s food supply,” he also said.

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The moral of the story: it is not a contradiction of your libertarian principles to accept federal pork money so long as it is in alignment with your political objectives.

hyp·o·crite [hip-uh-krit]
noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

"This facility will bring hundreds of jobs to Kansas, and add millions & millions of dollars to the Kansas economy."

Kansas Republicans constantly tell us that "government is the problem" and that the "government doesn't create jobs". I believe that Doonesbury has defined the Republican party exactly right: hypocrites. Government is great when it's giving us what we want, right? The entire Kansas Congresssional delegation is composed of anti-government hypocrites.

According to an NBAF economic development analysis commissioned by K-State, there will be only 151 scientific staff jobs and the remaining 175 jobs will be maintenance and security. Cost to us for the next 50 years: $16 billion. All this to make sure cows don't get Foot and Mouth Disease? (We must have imported some sacred cows from India).

If you want to see how this is really going to turn out, check out the 3,500 tons of toxic waste buried at Ft. Detrick MD and the people dying of cancer there. Frederick MD is the same size as Manhattan and the fort is surrounded by the town. Agent Orange testing killing cattle? Lawsuits ongoing and protest groups demanding the cover up stop. Price tag for the clean up- $26 million. How long did that take? Ten years. Go to your local video store and check out the video "Semper Fi". This is the real story of the military cover up on many facilities.

The next questions is:
- Will a Kansas construction company build this project?
Probably not, the federal government usually contracts with KBR who may sub out some
of the work to local skilled tradesman. So, we'll get some jobs there.
- Since the federal government is essentially relocating from the decrepit Plum Island facility, how many of their existing scientific staff will be coming with them?
BTW, I understood the facility would employ approximately 200 chemists.

Unlikely, per a contractor who attended the DHS' meeting for local contractors intending to bid on subcontracts, as DHS required bidders to use the same (expensive) software as used by DHS' favorites.

DHS will likely use the major contractors utilized to revamp the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases "campus" built to Top Secret - Sensitive Compartmented Information standards.

Construction personnel will have to pass investigation for a TS-SCI clearance; which = using contractors cleared to work on the USAMRIID "campus."

Ft. Detrick, MD, TS-SCIF "campus" of BSL-4 labs (labs for the study of dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections, agents which cause severe to fatal disease in humans for which vaccines or other treatments are not available. Sure the CDC is a BSL-4 lab, but then again, a single cow generates significantly more toxic, lethal waste than a laboratory full of petri dishes . . . . )

USAMRIID (Ft. Detrick, MD)

Department of Homeland Security
(Ft. Detrick, MD)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Fort Detrick, MD)

Yes that is great for Kansas, but what about all the spending cuts the Republcams want to make. It is allright to take away from Social Secutiry and Medicare, but when it comes to what they want for their states then lets spend it. Something wrong with this picture.

For those who are screaming for "fiscal responsibility" and "staying within our budgets", how about these facts:

2009: DHS stated the budget to construct NBAF would be $450,000,000
2012: DHS now says the real cost will be $1,200,000,000 (that's with a B)
2013: Simple math- this is 2.6 times the original budget.
And, what about the $2 million plus that Kansas has appropriated or spent so far?

The term is "leverage", meaning Kansas spent $2 million (of your tax dollars) "leveraging" $1.2 billion (of your tax dollars) from the federal government and then we are going to spend $16 billion (of your tax dollars) to run the joint for the 50 year life expectancy of the lab. Well, so much for staying "within budget". Why should we care? It's not our money (or is it)?
Then there is the $50 billion risk if we have to "mitigate" a pathogen outbreak (your tax dollars at work). Any Wall Street investor would tell you that the risk is way too high and the returns are minimal. How is this any different?

The Kansas congressional delegation has a long history of being followers and do-nothings. Kansans seem to have a knack for finding the most worthless moribund gasbags and electing them to public office where they remain until they get tired of the gig. Search the congressional record for the last 50 years and look for anything meaningful introduced by a member of the Kansas delegation. Save your energy - there's nothing to find. Kansas chooses idiots and buffoons, not leaders. Please stop referring to them as such; they are an embarrassment.

While I'm not one to argue your point, and certainly not for the lot of "legislators" we currently have in office, Bob Dole was a, and perhaps the, driving force beind the Americans with Disabilities act, which went a long way towards making facilities more accessible for all of us with disabilites. I don't know that he introduced the original bill, but he played a huge part in pushing it through.